Bait tank questions?

Looking to finally buy a good bait tank sometime this year. Creek Bank or similiar.

Have a couple dumb questions. As these seem to be a recirculating type of tank, how do you fill them? Portable bilge over the side to fill? Do you fill with brown, muddy river water or fill at home with clean water and if so what about chemicals in a public water supply?

How do you empty them without pulling a plug and having all the nasty water go into the bilge? Pump it out too?

They pretty much leave you on your own to fill the tank. Bilge over the side is one way. Alternatively you could plumb something into tour regular baitwell intake. I'd suggest using lake / river water from where you catch the shad. You can treat tap water, but then you might have big temperature or PH differences.

For pumping out, I know the Creek tanks give you a way to hook a hose onto the filter / aerator pump, and then pump out over the side. Again, you could probably plumb something more elaborate.

Thanks all, the plan is to fab a permanent (or removable) bracket to secure the tank. I may check into how much of a pain it would be to rig a quick disconnect for the fill/drain duties without hosing up an expensive set-up. Seems though the portable bilge pump would be the easiest to fill and the draining is simple with the Creek bank nipple doo-daddy.

I already have the 13 gal built-in one in the console but it is almost useless in hot weather and does not have rounded corners, radiused but not rounded.

You all know that I like to complicate matters if at all possible.:smile2:

As these seem to be a recirculating type of tank, how do you fill them? Portable bilge over the side to fill?

Click to expand...

Garden hose attached to the faucet at home works pretty well. A bilge pump on a hose works also. Use a cigarette lighter plug for power.

Do you fill with brown, muddy river water or fill at home with clean water and if so what about chemicals in a public water supply?

Click to expand...

Depends on the time of year. If the tap water temperature is fairly close or warmer than the river/lake water, I use tap water. If it's cooler by more than 10 degrees (as it will be in the heat of summer), I use a 50/50 mix of tap water and lake/river water.

If you use water from a municipal system, you'll need to pick up a bottle of "Tap Water Conditioner" at the nearest PetsMart, PetCo, etc. and follow the directions. A bottle lasts a good long time.

River water can be used any time you want - the filtration system will clean it up in an hour or so; you'll have to replace the filter element more frequently until it clears, but that's no big deal.

How do you empty them without pulling a plug and having all the nasty water go into the bilge? Pump it out too?

Click to expand...

Creek Bank tanks come with an adapter that you can plug into the pump outlet port. Add a length of hose and the tank can empty itself about 90&#37;. The rest you'll have to take care of at home with a hose. Grayline doesn't have any kind of pump-out capability; use your portable bilge for that.

You'll also want to get a bag of Stock Salt from the nearest MFA or farm supply. Add about 1 cup per 15 or 20 gallons of water in your bait tank. Everybody lives longer and is happier that way.

In the heat of summer, you have to watch water temperature - more than 10 degree cooler in your bait tank will kill your shad in no time at all -- when they get all red-nosed and die, that's your clue that that water was too cold.

Spend the money on a good tank -- Creek Bank or Blue Water -- and you won't be disappointed. Buy a cheap tank and you'll get what you pay for...

Skip, I put in a thru-the-transom pump and put about 10' of hose on it. When not in use, the hose stays coiled in the bilge and keeps water from entering through the pump. When I want water, I uncoil the hose, turn on the pump, and it's like filling the tank with a garden hose in the yard. I put a fitting in the bottom of the tank (protruding through the bottom) and when I want to empty the tank, I hook up the hose to the fitting, open the ball valve I put on the fitting, and it drains back through the pump, out the transom, and into the river. Easy to use, out of the way, and I can hose down the decks as needed when they get hot on my bare feet or nasty from fishing. Not nearly complicated enough for you, but it works for me:smile2:

I too got one of the Creek Bank tanks awhile back and have been using it for the first time this spring and I like it real well. So far I have just been using tap water and it seems to have worked fine. The only thing I might add to what has already been suggested is that in addition to the rock salt, I have been using a product called Shad Keeper from Sure Life as my water conditioner. This is what Creek Bank suggests to use.
Here is a link if you want check it out.